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California Imposes First Mandatory Water Restrictions to Deal With Drought

Photo Houseboats float in California’s drought-lowered Oroville Lake. Credit Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press PHILLIPS, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered mandatory water use reductions for the first time in California’s history, saying the state’s four-year drought had reached near-crisis proportions after a winter of record-low snowfalls. Mr. Brown, in an executive order , directed the State Water Resources Control Board to impose a 25 percent reduction on the state’s 400 local water supply agencies, which serve 90 percent of California residents, over the coming year. The agencies will be responsible for coming up with restrictions to cut back on water use and for monitoring compliance. State officials said the order would impose varying degrees of cutbacks on water use across the board — affecting homeowners, farms and other businesses, as well as the maintenance of cemeteries and golf courses. While the specifics of how this will be accomplished […]

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Clean air rules likely to cause power generation shortages in much of US: NERC chief

New US environmental regulations are likely to create generation shortages in the Great Plains, Midwest, Northeast and Texas, the head of the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said Wednesday. Speaking at the Gulf Coast Power Association’s Spring Conference in Houston, Gerry Cauley, NERC president and CEO, said new greenhouse gas rules could cause the retirement of 60 GW of generation capacity, mainly coal-fired, over the next few years. NERC plans to release a report on April 20 that would show such retirements could create shortages in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the Northeast Power Coordination Council and the Southwest Power Pool, Cauley said. Noting that the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan aims to lower carbon dioxide emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2020, Cauley said the report would highlight that the necessary cuts for many states "appear to be infeasible." Article […]

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North Dakota joins Wyoming in lawsuit challenging federal fracing rule

The North Dakota Industrial Commission has voted to join Wyoming in a lawsuit challenging a new rule issued by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management , which includes requirements for publicly disclosing chemicals using in hydraulic fracturing . The rule pertains to onshore drilling on tribal and public lands ( OGJ Online, Mar. 20, 2015 ). Wyoming was the first state that decided to file a lawsuit ( OGJ Online, Mar. 27, 2015 ). North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said he believes the latest federal regulations could “interfere with the work of the state’s water commission and health department.” Atty. Gen. Wayne Stenehjem said North Dakota lawmakers previously approved $1 million for litigation on issues such as fracturing regulations. Related Articles

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WoodMac: US record crude stocks set to decline

HOSUTON, Apr. 1 US crude oil stocks have grown over 30 million bbl each month so far this year, leading to a series of record highs and most recently reaching an estimated 471 million bbl of crude on Mar. 27, yet Wood Mackenzie analysts calculate the US has about 200 million bbl of unused crude storage capacity. Afolabi Ogunnaike, WoodMac senior research analyst for Americas refining and oil product markets, said he does not expect the US to run out of crude storage. “On the contrary, we anticipate that the uptick in refinery crude runs and exports will exceed the growth in supply eventually leading to stock withdrawals,” he said. WoodMac forecasts refinery crude runs will rise significantly in April as refineries exit seasonal maintenance and ramp up processing for the summer driving season. “Refinery crude runs could increase over 1.7 million b/d from the spring lows to the […]

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Low Oil Prices Prompt ConocoPhillips to Review Workforce Needs

ConocoPhillips warned that reductions should be expected at the company due to low oil prices, a company spokesperson told Rigzone in an email statement. The layoffs, which will affect all areas of the company, will be driven by lower exploration and production activity due to low oil prices, the spokesperson said. Tulsa World reported that ConocoPhillips has started laying off employees at its former corporate home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, due to the persistent fall in crude oil prices. The company has also laid off workers from its Alaskan operations , KTUU-TV reported Tuesday. Karen Boman has more than 10 years of experience covering the upstream oil and gas sector. Email Karen at [email protected] . WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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Poverty to rise in Russia, World Bank says

Poverty in Vladimir Putin’s Russia to increase as sanctions pressure builds, World Bank report finds. File photo by UPI MOSCOW, April 1 (UPI) — The health of the Russian economy depends in part on how well it can manage to thrive in an era of low oil prices and sanctions, a World Bank report said. The World Bank in a report said Russia’s mid-term economic prospects are likely to be clouded by the dual strains of a sustained bear market for crude oil and lingering sanctions pressure. "It is likely that when the full effects of the two shocks become evident in 2015, they will push the Russian economy into recession," the report said. Economic sanctions were imposed in response to crises in Ukraine. A Russian government forecast said the "only possible source of recovery" was an increase in investment demand. European sanctions imposed in July cut into the […]

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Ukraine says signs deal to buy Russian gas at lower price

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine has signed a new agreement to buy Russian gas over the next three months at $248 per thousand cubic meters, after paying $329 in the first quarter of this year under the just expired ‘winter package’, the Ukrainian energy ministry said on Thursday. Despite being at loggerheads over a separatist rebellion in east Ukraine, the two sides are bound by a 10-year gas agreement signed in 2009 which successive Kiev governments say carries an onerous price that weighs heavily on the economy. Apart from the price, the latest agreement extended all the other terms of the ‘winter package’ which has just lapsed between Ukraine’s state gas concern Naftogaz and Russia’s gas giant Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ), the ministry said in a statement. The agreement represented a "victory" for an economic approach to relations between Naftogaz and Gazprom over a political one, Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn […]

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Why $30 a Barrel Oil Is Unlikely

Why $30 a Barrel Oil Is Unlikely thumbnail ROBERT RAPIER: As the price of West Texas Intermediate went into free fall in the second half of 2014, nobody had a clue where the price might stabilize. After all, in mid-2008 a similar free fall began that took WTI from nearly $150 a barrel into the $30s. As the price dipped below $50 a barrel, many analysts began suggesting oil could fall much lower. $30 a barrel . Analyst Dennis Gartman went so far as to suggest on CNBC that we could see oil fall to $15 a barrel because of insufficient crude oil storage. I view $30 a barrel or lower as extremely unlikely. My prediction for 2015 was that West Texas Intermediate wouldn’t close below $40 a barrel, because of some important distinctions between today’s market and that of 2008. Despite an oft-repeated mantra about falling demand, global […]

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Oil Prices Slip as U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks Continue Past Deadline

ENLARGE Hamid Baeedinejad, left, an Iranian official, speaks with the press about negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program outside the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on Tuesday. The U.S. said it was prepared to work past a midnight deadline if progress was being made toward clinching a preliminary nuclear deal. Photo: Reuters LONDON—Oil prices fell in volatile trade on Wednesday as investors tracked the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and a buildup in U.S. oil supplies. Brent crude for May delivery fell 0.3% to $54.95 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $47.26 a barrel, down 0.8% from Tuesday’s settlement. Nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers missed the deadline for a preliminary agreement on Tuesday. But in early morning hours Wednesday, there were some signs of progress toward building a framework outlining elements […]

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Oil prices edge lower as Iran talks extend beyond deadline

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil futures edged lower on Wednesday amid speculation that a last-minute deal over Iran’s nuclear program would be reached that could allow more Iranian crude onto world markets. Talks between Iran and six world powers to settle a dispute around Tehran’s nuclear program extended beyond a Tuesday deadline, as the parties edged towards a deal but failed to agree to crucial details such as the lifting of U.N. sanctions. Efforts to reach a framework deal were scheduled to continue on Wednesday in the Swiss city of Lausanne. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a general agreement had been reached over all key aspects of a future deal, TASS news agency quoted him as saying. A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, later denied that an agreement had been reached. Talks had appeared to bog down, after the United States warned that it was ready to abandon […]

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